One of the biggest disappointments of her first term as Premier was in late 2009 when then federal environment minister
Peter Garrett
blocked the state government’s plans to build the $1.8 billion Traveston Dam in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

The political and financial ramifications of that decision were immense as the Bligh government had already spent hundreds of millions of dollars – not to mention raised the ire of environmentalists and local farmers – buying up properties to build the dam, which would be the centrepiece of their $9 billion “water grid" for south-east Queensland. It was all for nothing.

Now, Wivenhoe Dam – a legacy of former long-serving National premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen – looms large over the Bligh government as it attempts to win a sixth term in office.

The 1.1 million-megalitre capacity dam, built in 1984 and situated on Lake Wivenhoe 65 kilometres west of Brisbane, provides the bulk of the water for south-east Queensland’s 3 million residents.

But, just as importantly, it also plays a crucial role in flood mitigation for Brisbane and Ipswich, two cities that have had their fair share of natural disasters, given they are situated on a flood plain.

Last summer’s floods shocked the nation, but for those with memories of the 1974 floods – or who recall being told about the “great flood of 1893" – know they are part of life in this part of Queensland. South-east Queensland may be regarded as being in the sub-tropics, but for the five years leading up to the 2011 floods it was gripped by drought.

Residents who were used to never having restrictions imposed on their water usage now had limits of 240 litres a day as capacity at Wivenhoe Dam slipped to below 20 per cent.

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When decent rainfall in late 2010 started to fill up Lake Wivenhoe, the recent drought – and the need to protect future water supplies – was not far from the minds of bureaucrats and the Bligh government.

Despite predictions of a wetter than average wet season, no water was released from Wivenhoe Dam in late 2010, leaving the potential for problems should there be a large flood.

And there was. Weeks of rain created the perfect conditions for large run-off from the Wivenhoe catchment into the dam.

The worst floods in 35 years brought out the best in Bligh.

She rose to national prominence during and after the floods and cyclone Yasi, showing a combination of leadership and compassion which temporarily boosted her popularity in Queensland.

But it is the performance of dam engineers for Seqwater, the state-owned body that controls the water flows from Wivenhoe Dam, in the lead-up to the Brisbane floods in mid-January last year that could ultimately control Bligh’s political destiny.

Bligh must have known it was a political risk to grant an extension of public hearings for the flood’s commission of inquiry, which released an interim report last August.

The inquiry – headed by Supreme Court judge Catherine Holmes, former Queensland police commissioner Jim O’Sullivan and dam expert Phillip Cummins – will hand down its final report on March 16, only a week before the state election on March 24. Politicians like to be in control of their destiny, especially in the lead-up to an election.

But the reopening of the inquiry, especially the tone set by counsel assisting the inquiry Peter Callaghan, showed there could be a few political time bombs for the Bligh government, which opinion polls already suggest is facing likely defeat.

The key issue revolves around the dam strategies used by Seqwater officials in the days leading up to the flooding of Brisbane and Ipswich.

Dam engineers have already given evidence to the inquiry saying they adhered to the dam manual regarding water releases, increasing to the “W3" strategy (which focuses on maximising water releases to protect urban areas) when required.

But media reports last month cast doubt on whether the dam engineers actually increased from the W1 to W3 strategy as quickly as they claimed they had.

The failure to release water before peak in-flows hit the dam meant they had to release large amounts of water to protect the almost over-flowing dam. Critics say this exacerbated flooding in Brisbane and Ipswich.

Seqwater privately admits it was “sloppy" in keeping logs during what was an understandably busy and stressful time.

But in the stand on Thursday, Seqwater dam engineer John Tibaldi was accused of having a “disregard for the truth" and writing “fiction" when he compiled the body’s final flood report, released last March.

Callaghan claimed Tibaldi had used the benefit of hindsight to make sure Seqwater’s final report matched the strategies adopted by flood engineers during those hectic days before the Brisbane flood.

“It’s fiction. It’s something you created at the end of January," Callaghan suggested to Tibaldi before a packed court room.

“You and the others have shown a disregard for the manual and, in preparing your report, have shown a disregard for the truth."

Tibaldi told the inquiry on Friday the report was an accurate reflection of events, even though Callaghan says there is no contemporaneous evidence to confirm what strategies were actually adopted at the time.

Whether the engineers adhered to the dam manual is the crux of the $15 million inquiry.

If there was any deviation from the manual, the state government could be liable for a class action lawsuit from the 10,000 residents whose properties were damaged by the large water releases from Wivenhoe.

Bligh has been asked to provide a written statement to the commission by February 6 and a copy of her diary and relevant documents relating to meetings she attended during the floods.

The Premier says she is willing to give evidence to the inquiry if required.

Energy and Water Utilities Minister Stephen Robertson, her former director-general Ken Smith and other senior public servants have also been asked to provide updated statements to the inquiry.

The extra hearings will run until Friday, with daily revelations about a potential cover-up by Seqwater engineers likely to provide an interesting back-drop to the marathon eight-week election campaign.

Bligh says she is prepared for the “ugly truth" when the final flood inquiry report is handed down on March 16 – a week before the March 24 poll.

“The people of Queensland have a right to know exactly what happened and what can be done in the future to prevent it happening again," she said this week.

“I set up this inquiry and I set it up for one reason, to get the truth. I don’t care how ugly that truth is."

Before the extra hearings, Labor staffers did not seem too concerned about the extension of the floods inquiry or what it might hold for the Labor government, which has been in power since 1998.

They were confident no smoking gun was likely to emerge, otherwise why would Bligh have extended the final report until just before polling day?

But there has been an urgency and an edge to the hearings this week as those involved in the inquiry appear keen to show they have not overlooked crucial evidence from dam engineers from last year’s hearings.

While there is unlikely to be a direct connection linking Bligh and her ministers to the activities of dam engineers, they are likely to be the collateral damage from any adverse findings.

Bligh may have done an admiral job during last summer’s floods but voters won’t have any problem with sheeting home blame for any alleged bureaucratic stuff-up on an already unpopular Labor government.

Nor will the Liberal National Party, who will just sit back and point the finger at the Bligh government.